Kwinana had dealings with 2 auditing firms that secured SAA contracts, court hears

JOHANNESBURG - Disgraced former chairperson of South African Airways (SAA)’s audit committee, Yakhe Kwinana, is the latest figure to be charged on state capture. 

She appeared in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in Palm Ridge on Tuesday, facing charges of fraud and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act. 

The charges relate to an auditing contract that was awarded to two private companies that had previous dealings with Kwinana, something she failed to declare to the SAA board at the time. 

In 2011, two audit firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Nkonki Incorporated secured an auditing contract from the SAA. 

The contract would see the firms subsequently pocket R59 million from SAA. 

At the time, Kwinana, was the chairperson of SAA’s audit committee and part of the board that awarded the contract to PwC and Nkonki. 

But she failed to declare to the board that she had previous dealings with both companies. 

According to the charge sheet, Kwinana "had past contractual relationships with both PwC and Nkonki" through her company, Kwinana and Associates Incorporated. 

The State believes that had Kwinana made the board aware of her relationship with PwC and Nkonki, the board would not have approved the contract. 

She has been released on R20,000 bail and will reappear in court in 2025.